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The report provides a detailed and up-to-date summary of the legal and legislative status of the payday lending industry around the country. It places particular emphasis on analyzing the most important and controversial trend in payday lending: the growing use of banks to evade state usury laws, small loan rate caps, and, even, state payday loan laws. The report also includes detailed store-by-store and state-by-state results of a 2001 survey of 235 payday lenders in 20 states and the District of Columbia.

Since bank deregulation began in the early 1980s, the PIRGs and other consumer groups have conducted numerous studies documenting skyrocketing consumer banking fees. This 2001 national survey, prepared by the state PIRGs with assistance from state and local member groups of the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), updates our 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1999 national surveys.

Despite giving almost a quarter of a million dollars to candidates, Political Action Committees (PACs) and parties in the last election cycle, K Street did not mount a campaign against the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill as it went to the floor of the Senate earlier this year. The reason lies in the fine print of the bill.

The science of genetic engineering, particularly as applied to agriculture, is radical and new. Contrary to popular belief, the technology is not very precise. As a result, genetic engineering raises a host of ecological and human health concerns that have not been adequately addressed. Despite this, on tens of thousands of acres across the United States, although the exact amount is not publicly available, experiments with genetically engineered crops are being conducted in the open environment with little oversight and public notification.

The state PIRGs conducted two surveys for this report. In a survey of 100 credit card offers during the summer of 2000, the state PIRGs found two major themes: (1) credit card terms and conditions are becoming less favorable to consumers; and (2) credit card marketing practices are misleading and deceptive. In an on-campus survey of college students, conducted during the current school year, the state PIRGs found that the marketing of credit cards to college students is too aggressive. The state PIRGs compared these results to those of a 1998 PIRG survey and found that the situation has not improved.